Spes Magna Games

What I hope is the final round of edits to The Four Color Hack are in the hands of the erstwhile young lady who’s helping me with all that techy stuff needed for print-on-demand (POD). I received proof copy last week. Overall, it looks good, but there were some problems that must be addressed. (See the pics to the right for examples; clicking a pic embiggens it.)

This whole POD process has been a wee bit arduous. Of course, if I hadn’t gotten ripped off by The Formatting Service What Shall Not Be Named, I’d not be about a month behind where I thought I’d be, but c’est la vie and caveat emptor. When The Four Color Hack does hit the interwaves for sale as a POD book, it’ll sell for no more than $12 (which includes the PDF as well, of course).

In other exciting news, did you know that the first and only season of Street Hawk is watchable via Amazon Prime? I’ll give you a moment to catch your breath. I loved this show when it was on TV way back in the year I graduated from high school. Rex Smith had great hair, a dazzling smile, and that snotty, faux insouciance that still makes me giggle a little. I remember a handwritten Marvel Super Heroes character sheet based on Street Hawk. Not sure if I ever got to play him or not, but I hope I did.

Therefore, the Road Raptor, a complete superhero for The Four Color Hack!

The Road Raptor

This is Jesus Comacho, an ex-motorcycle cop, injured in the line of duty. Now a police troubleshooter, he’s been recruited for a top secret government mission to ride the Raptor — an all-terrain attack motorcycle designed to fight urban crime, capable of incredible speeds up to three hundred miles an hour, and immense firepower. Only one man, federal agent Titus Normandy, knows Jesus Camacho’s true identity. The man…the machine…the Road Raptor!

STR 13, DEX 14, CON 13, INT 10, WIS 9, CHA 12

Level 1
Hit Points 14
Fortune 10
Base Damage d6
Vigor 2
Idioms Motorcycle Cop, Hot-Headed Daredevil

Crash Suit
* Powers: Advanced Synthon-Weave Suit d6 (4 armor), Helmet Sensor Array d8
* Limitation: The Road Raptor has a bum leg from being injured in the line of duty. This leg still gives him trouble from time to time.

The Raptor
* Powers: All-Terrain Capabilities d6, Hyperefficient Engine d12, Immense Firepower d10
* Limitation: The Raptor is an experimental AT-AM. Its systems are not always stable, and Titus Normandy constantly tinkers with it when it’s not deployed.

Tags: Spes Magna Products, TFCH

Giant from the Unknown strives to be a B-movie, but doesn’t quite succeed. Made in 1958, this horror movie stars Ed Kemmer (who?), Sally Fraser (who?), and Buddy Baer (the hulking heavyweight boxer and uncle of Jethro Bodine). The movie’s plot involves archaeology, xenophobia, police incompetence, a cute blond with a pistol who still needs rescuing, and a resurrected conquistador whose hobbies include lumbering, lurking, and killing women. Despite all of this, the movie still manages to be dull and not the least bit scary. After the movie poster, you’ll find stats for the Diablo Giant, the film’s monster, suitable for use with The Cthulhu Hack.

The Diablo Giant
Nearly seven feet tall and weighing more than 300 pounds, clad in a breastplate and helm, armed with a battle axe, still caked with the dirt of the grave, the Diablo Giant’s eyes glow with bloodlust.

Hit Dice: 4 (1d10 damage)
Notes: The Diablo Giant possesses enormous physical power. STR Saves against it are made with Disadvantage. It takes half damage from firearms and electricity.

——

In Spes Magna Games news, I’ve just ordered my proof copy of the print-on-demand The Four Color Hack. Going from PDF to POD has been an arduous possess, which has included getting ripped off by one layout person and stressing another layout person probably more than is necessary trying to divine the arcane procedures necessary to upload an acceptable cover. I should have the proof copy some time next week. If all looks good (fingers crossed!), the POD The Four Color Hack should be available for purchase before the end of July.

Huzzah!

Tags: monsters, TFCH, The Cthulhu Hack

Endangered innocent bystanders have long been a staple of comic book action. All those civilians caught in the middle of that alien invasion or smackdown between titans serve certain narrative functions. They help create a sense of danger, of empathy. They give villains a convenient way to distract the heroes. Who can forget this evil exchange?

General Zod said, “This ‘super-man’ is nothing of the kind; I’ve discovered his weakness.”

“Yes?” said Ursa.

“He cares. He actually cares for these Earth people.”

“Like pets?”

General Zod said, “I suppose.”

In big team battles against earth-beating threats, getting innocent bystanders out of the way also gives less powerful heroes something to do while the group’s heavy hitters tackle the main menace. For example, Thor and Hulk go toe-to-toe with the Leviathan while Black Widow and Captain America race to get the civilians to safety.

One way The Four Color Hack handles this sort of action is through the use of Elements. At their most basic level, Elements serve to grant advantage or impose disadvantage, depending on the narration of the action. Consider Cloud of Dust as an Element. A hero could use this Element to hide his movement, thus gaining advantage on an attempt to remain hidden. In a similar way, the Element could impose disadvantage on a hero’s energy blast since he can’t quite see his target.

A more serious Element, however, can have stats, pretty much as if it were a villain. Consider this example:

Huge and Fiery Explosion
Level 2 Element

Hit Points: 16 (2 Vigor)
Base Damage: 1d6
Powers: Collateral Damage d6

On this Element’s turn, the Editor should describe how someone is imminent peril. He then asks a hero, “What do you do?” The hero’s response to the peril is treated as defending against an attack from the Element. Should the hero fail, the Element’s damage (2d6) represents the level of harm the hero faces. Since hit points represent more than physical damage, proximity to the threat is not particularly important. The Element can be “fought” during a hero’s Panel, but the Element’s hit points are not its resistance to actual damage. Instead, they represent the level of danger to bystanders, buildings, et cetera. Once the Element has 0 hit points, it is no longer a threat.

Imagine a player running the fiery speedster Hot Flash in a scene like that shown in the picture above.

Editor: “The fireball expands with a roar and a blast of heat, lifting vehicles into the air. Hot Flash, you see a man behind the wheel of a truck, arms locked, mouth open in a scream, as his vehicle flies into the air. What do you do?”

Hot Flash: “Faster than the eye can see, I race forward, running up bits of debris as if they were stairs toward the cab of the truck, and then a smash through a window and out the driver side door, carrying the man to safety.”

Editor: “Excellent. Roll DEX with a +1.” (The +1 comes from the difference between the Element’s level and Hot Flash’s level, and it is a penalty in TFCH’s roll-low system.)

(A die clatters on the table.)

Editor: “Ooh. That’s a failure. You race up the bits of debris and smashes through the window to pull the man to safety, but not without being pelted with shards of street, glass, and other bits of shrapnel.” (More dice clatter.) “You take 9 points of damage. Your turn. What do you do now?”

Hot Flash: “After leaving the man in an alley, I race back, unconcerned with these minor cuts. I use my Fire Control to funnel the flame from the explosion up into the air where I hope it’ll dissipate harmlessly.”

Editor: “Clever. Roll INT with a +1.”

(Clatter, clatter!)

Hot Flash: “A one! Critical success!”

Editor: “Roll for double damage.” (Hot Flash scores 19 points of damage.) “Excellent! You’ve defeated the fireball. Narrate the results, please.”

Tags: elements, TFCH

Introducing Amok for The Four Color Hack. Amok is one of the Sinisters, a villain group I originally called the Sinister Six. Back then, Amok was known as Ogre.

Amok
Level 6 Villain

Quote: “Amok smash!”
Real Name: Ian Caldwell
Identity: Public
Place of Birth: Los Alamos, New Mexico
Height: 7 ft.
Weight: 650 lb.
Eyes: Glowing yellow
Hair: None

Hit Points: 38 (6 Vigor)
Base Damage: 2d8
Powers: Atomic-Powered Body d10 (6 protection), Devotion to Volt d10, Super-Strength d12

Young Ian Caldwell, up-and-coming high-school football player, always seemed to have more muscle than brains, but he had a good heart. His father, Sean, had been a constable until his death in the line of duty, and Regina, Ian’s widowed mother, did her best for her son. Ian understood loyalty, whether to his mother, to his team, to his friends. After his junior year at Los Alamos High School, Ian got a summer job driving a truck for Clean Sands, a company that handled waste transport and disposal. The money was good, and Ian was so proud to be able to help his mother.

Unfortunately, Clean Sands fell short of the up-and-up. A blown tire put Ian’s truck in a ditch, and drums full of illegal toxic waste ruptured. Ian crawled through this waste, dragging his co-driver away from the wreck. Both men suffered terrible chemical burns atop the injuries suffered in the crash. Worst of all, the toxic waste interacted with latent, mutated genes in Ian’s DNA.

Ian Caldwell, loving and loyal, transformed into a hulking brute driven by fear and rage. He tore his way free from the military hospital into which he been admitted after his body had started to change. During his rampage across the military base, the military police vehicle transporting Regina to Ian’s location in the hope that Ian’s mother could calm him down got too close. Without realizing Regina was in the vehicle, Ian lashed out. The vehicle was destroyed, and all of its occupants died. Ian escaped into the New Mexico wilderness.

Volt, leader of the Sinisters, found Amok some time later. The tortured youth responded to Volt’s calm, subtle manipulation. Now known as Amok, Ian serves Volt and the Sinisters with the same devotion he once served his family and football team.

Amok possesses immense strength. He can lift 25 tons, and his physical attacks are devastating (2d8+1d12). His Atomic-Powered Body is highly resistant to injury, and Amok never seems to get tired. He also recovers from injury at an accelerated rate. Amok has a child-like intelligence, but his intense Devotion to Volt makes him difficult to manipulate.

Tags: supervillains, TFCH

Presenting the Snail Monster for both Mutant Future and the third edition of RuneQuest.

The dreaded snail monster is a monstrous mollusk, easily twice the size of an adult African elephant. It fleshy body is not especially resistant to harm (AC 7), but is covered with a viscous slime that acts as a Class 6 poison (6d6 damage but save for half). An attacker seeking to avoid contact with this toxic goo must either use a weapon or else attack the shell. The spiked shell (AC 3) lacks pain sensors, blood vessels, et cetera. Non-energy Attacks against the shell inflict only half damage. The shell is impervious to poison.

If provoked, the snail monster attacks twice per round, using some combination of its powerful bite, its blinding eye beams, or a project shellspike. The eye beams project out to 30 feet and blind for 1d4 rounds. A shellspike has a maximum range of 1,500 feet. Shellspikes regenerate with remarkable speed.

Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 45′ (15′)
Armor Class: 7 (3 for shell)
Hit Dice: 12
Attacks: 2 (bite and/or eye beams and/or shellspike)
Damage: 2d8 (bite), blindness (eye beams), 1d12 (shellspike)
Save: L6
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: None
XP: 4,400

Mutations: Dermal Poison Slime (Class 6), Gigantism, Optic Emissions (bright eyes), Spiked Shell

———

STR 8D6+32 (60)
CON 4D6+20 (34)
SIZ 6D6+24 (45)
INT 5
POW 2D6+6 (13)
DEX 2D6+3 (10)
Move 2
Hit Points 53
Fatigue 94

Hit Location (d20/Armor/Hit Points) Left Eye Stalk (1-2/3/9), Right Eye Stalk (3-4/3/9), Head (5-7/3/9), Upper Body (8-10/3/14), Lower Body (11-13/3/18), Shell (14-20/8/22)

Weapon (SR/Attack%/Damage)
Bite (9/45%/2D8+5d6
Eye Beam (6/75%/blindness)
Shellspike (6/35%/1d8+3d6)

Notes The snail monster may fire its eye beams or a shellspike and bite in the same round, against one or two opponents. The attacks take place 3 strike ranks apart. Creatures hitting the snail monster with a natural weapon (such as a claw or fist) somewhere other than the shell take dose of POT 10 poison. A target hit by the snail monster’s eye beams is blinded for 1d4 rounds. A shellspike as has the same range as a heavy crossbow (55/300).

Skills Listen 35%, Scan 65%

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In other news, there’s about a week left in the 25th Wedding Anniversary Spes Magna Games Sale.

In bigger news, I’m also, I hope, not much more than two or so weeks away from bringing The Four Color Hack to print-on-demand. I’m working on a final edit and adding some more content. I’m not sure how much the POD version will sell for, but it will include the PDF as part of the purchase, and I’m certainly planning to send out a discount code to people who’ve already purchased the PDF version. Stay tuned. The Four Color Hack will be the first POD Spes Magna Games publication ever.

Huzzah.

Tags: monsters, Mutant Future, RuneQuest, TFCH